T30 NATURE'S STORY OF THE YEAR 



Nesting-birds are exposed to many dangers. A 

 storm may overturn the home. In the country, 

 weasels and stoats, finding nests, kill all the living 

 contents. It is possible, however, that these pre- 

 dacious beasts prefer the young of grain-eating 

 birds to those of insect-eaters. A weasel kept by 

 my brother would not touch a titmouse, though a 

 house-sparrow or a young pigeon would be eagerly 

 devoured. A tame owl exhibited the same pre- 

 ference, and a kestrel would not eat a mole, 

 though it eagerly devoured a mouse or a piece of 

 a rat. 



But the cat is the worst enemy of the garden 

 bird. In order to keep cats from nests in trees, 

 fringes of wire netting should be placed around 

 the stems, extending to the distance of a couple of 

 feet from the wood, and at a height of four or five 

 feet from the ground. If tied tightly to the stem 

 this will keep down any cat. But the young will 

 have to take their chance unaided when they leave 

 the nest. In this respect the more desirable 

 species, the shade-loving insectivores, are the 

 more unfortunate. Such are the robins, hedge- 

 sparrows, wrens, and thrushes ; the finches and 



